Boulder County organizations that provide food and other services to low-income families are reporting higher-than-normal demand this year, highlighting a rising need for food and financial assistance in one of the wealthiest counties in the state.
The growing need is partially due to rollbacks to safety net programs this year, as well as longstanding housing insecurity. A Covid-era boost to federal food stamps and Medicaid insurance came to an end earlier this year. Meanwhile, both student homelessness and homelessness more generally are increasing across the county.
“When people spend the majority of their income on rent, food is one of the first things to be flexed,” said Hayden Dansky, the co-director for Boulder Food Rescue.
Boulder Food Rescue is one of the many nonprofit organizations accepting food, cash and other donations this holiday season. Here is a brief summary.
Food donations
The Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA) is a Boulder-based nonprofit that provides financial support to families and operates a food bank in North Boulder at 1575 Yarmouth Avenue.
“I would describe demand for food this year as historic levels,” Julie Van Domelen, the executive director of EFAA, told Boulder Reporting Lab in an email. Van Domelen said the number of households seeking food from EFAA is up 36% this year.
EFAA has a “top needs” list on its website. During Thanksgiving week, the organization is seeking more canned proteins such as beans or tuna, canned soup and canned fruits. EFAA also accepts cash and other goods.
Harvest of Hope operates a food pantry in East Boulder at 4830 Pearl Street.
“With the recent reduction in SNAP and Medicaid, I would describe the need for food as ‘very high’ this year,” Chad Molter, the executive director for the Harvest of Hope Pantry, told Boulder Reporting Lab in an email.
Molter said the organization has seen a 60% increase in pounds of food distributed this year compared to last. With an average of about 100 shoppers per day at the pantry, he said the organization expects to distribute 500,000 pounds of food in 2023.
Harvest of Hope is seeking financial donations and turkeys, ham, chickens, baking supplies and butter, Molter said.
Money donations
Meals on Wheels of Boulder is delivering about 300 meals per day, compared to an average of about 250 meals per day last year, according to Shoshana Fanizza, the development and marketing manager for Meals on Wheels of Boulder.
“Demand for meals has also gone up,” Fanizza told Boulder Reporting Lab. “We foresee this upward trend continuing.”
She said Meals on Wheels across the nation are being squeezed, in part due to rising food costs, which she said have more than doubled since 2022, and other expenses. “Every cost associated with meal delivery has increased. We are looking at an average of $35,000 per month for our food bills. [Food containers] are easily getting toward over $100,000 for the year,” she said.
She said monetary donations are the best way to help. The organization is asking people to donate to its Colorado Gives Day page through Dec. 5.
Boulder Food Rescue is a local organization that distributes food donations to about 6,000 residents by bike, according to the organization’s website.
“With the high cost of living and high food prices in particular, we are seeing the demand for food on the rise,” Dansky, the co-director for the organization, told Boulder Reporting Lab.
The organization is seeking financial support.
“Because the food we distribute is donated, for every $1 donated, we distribute about $4.50 in groceries directly to communities in places they are already gathered — affordable housing, pre-schools, daycares. People at those sites distribute the food amongst themselves,” they said. “So to make the biggest impact in food access, direct funding enables us to carry out the logistics of getting otherwise wasted food directly to people.”
Organizations providing meals for homeless people
The Boulder Shelter for the Homeless in North Boulder is planning to serve a Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday, according to Andy Schultheiss, a spokesperson for the shelter.
“We have the meal covered at this point. Instead of food donations we asked for gift cards to grocery stores, so we could buy precisely what was needed and make our community’s donations as efficient as possible,” Schultheiss said.
Learn more how to donate to the shelter on this page.
Feet Forward, a local nonprofit that provides services to homeless people, is partnering with the Second Baptist Church to provide a meal from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day in Boulder’s Central Park at 1236 Canyon Blvd.
During the event, volunteers will distribute cold weather clothing, outdoor accessories, personal care items, coffee, pastries and a hot meal, the organizations wrote in a flier about the event.
“The goal of this outdoor Thanksgiving Day Community Dinner is to emphasize the importance of helping those in need prepare for the cold months ahead and encourage them spiritually, physically and emotionally on this important family oriented holiday,” the flier states.
The founder of Feet Forward, Jennifer Livovich, resigned from the organization earlier this year and launched Streetscape Peer Support Services and Outreach, a new organization that provides a wide range of support services for homeless people. That organization is seeking cash and volunteer support.
